Mates over Merit: The Women in Media Report

A blokey culture that rewards ‘mates over merit’, tolerates sexual harassment and abuse, pays lip service to work-family balance, and perpetuates the gender pay gap has been exposed by a landmark survey of women in the Australian media.

According to the survey by Women In Media, a mentoring, networking and advocacy group supported by the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance:

*Discrimination remains rife, with policies “on paper, not in practice”: Only 11% of respondents rated them “very effective”.

*41% of women said they’d been harassed, bullied or trolled on social media, while engaging with audiences; several were silenced, or changed career.

*Only 16% of respondents were aware of their employer’s strategies to deal with threats.